'Bama rode the 18 point performance of Senior point guard Trevor Releford to a much needed, but not very impressive, 64 to 56 victory over Robert Morris. The win improved ' Bama's record to 6-7 on the year, and closed out the non conference portion of the schedule.
Releford received help from sophomore Retin Obosahan and junior Carl Engstrom, both coming off the bench to contribute. Belgian native Obosahan bounced back from several subpar games, scoring 12 points with a team-high seven rebounds. Engstrom, who has been woefully inconsistent, added eight points and five rebounds. Shannon Hale drew his second start of his career and added seven points and five rebounds.
The Tide had their customary scoring drought at the beginning of the game, falling behind nine to zero before finally scoring on Rodney Cooper's two free throws. The Tide took a three point lead into halftime.
An eight point win over a bad Robert Morris team is not anything to get to excited about but it certainly beats the recent string of almost, woulda, shoulda and coulda games.
SEC play begins next week as 'Bama hosts Vanderbilt in the conference opener Tuesday at Coleman.The game tips at 8 p.m.and will be televised on ESPNU. Needless to say, it would take a dominant run in conference play to salvage this season.
Hopefully just getting a win against anyone will propel this team to improve and reach their potential. Let's fill the home arena on Tuesday and see if we can get this season turned around.
Roll Tide y'all.
Roger